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Fluorescence/Phosporescence

An exciting property of some diamonds is that they can glow in the dark. When illuminated by ultraviolet light, certain diamonds can take up the high-energy radiation and re-emit it as visible light. These diamonds are known as fluorescent. Some can still continue glowing after the ultraviolet source is turned off. Those diamonds are phosphorescent.

This 2.15-carat, cushion-cut diamond fluoresces in daylight but not in glowing light, such as that given off by a light bulb. It is a color-change diamond, leaving from intense, greenish yellow in fluorescent light or daylight to yellowish brown in incandescent light. This Brazilian diamond has a significant pedigree, having been given by Pedro II de Alcantara (1825-91), emperor of Brazil, to his niece. Dom Pedro II, a descendant of the Hapsburg family and the Braganza noble family that ruled Portugal, ascended to the throne of Brazil in 1831 and ruled until 1889. He was a scientist in his own right and was very much interested in diamonds, mineral specimens, and geology.

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